


Double Life: Worlds Collide

by Silvermags



Series: Double Life and its Rewrite [1]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Artemis and Jinx teaming up to give KF a hard time, Batman is a good Dad, But it's there and important to me, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Good things happen, He's also only there for like two lines, KF and Artemis as Amicable Exes, Misunderstandings, Mostly Misplaced Paranoia, Reiterating FRIENDSHIP, Relationships are not important to the plot but they're there, double dates, no bad guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26662885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvermags/pseuds/Silvermags
Summary: Rewrite of the original Double Life.Robin has kept his two teams and the two sides of his double life separate for an impressively long time, but now that's all starting to fall down.   Maybe now's the time to come clean.  At least when he does, he won't be alone.Updates Saturdays!
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Kaldur'ahm, Batman & Robin - Relationship, Kid Flash & Robin, Kid Flash/Jinx, Kon-El | Conner Kent/M'gann M'orzz, Robin & The Titans, Robin/Starfire, Team & Team, Titans & Team, Titans & Titans, lots of friendship
Series: Double Life and its Rewrite [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918648
Comments: 97
Kudos: 151





	1. Batman Panics, Robin Goes Home

**Author's Note:**

> Big Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go through with this rewrite! Let me tell you, when I first floated that question into the ether, I was not expecting such a response! I was completely humbled, let me tell you, and I am so happy to be ready to publish this for all of you.
> 
> Shoutout to AJElementus for helping me with the title! New to this website, but we've known each other for years, and an amazing writer, you guys should definitely take a look! 
> 
> Timeline is in the end notes for anyone confused.
> 
> This is completely finished and will post every Saturday until it's complete. And I WILL NOT get impatient and also start posting on Wednesdays again. Like last time I finished a work before posting it. Heh.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

The sound of punches and kicks rang through the cave as Robin and Kid Flash sparred. Several of their female team members watched, chatting idly as they cheered the boys on.

“Are they still going at it?” Rocket asked as she sipped her drink, “Hasn’t Robin usually kicked butt by this point?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of weird,” Zatanna agreed, “Do you think something’s wrong? He has been gone a long time.”

“I’m sure that if something was wrong he’d tell us,” M’gann assured them as she brought out the cookies she’d been making.

“Fail: Kid Flash,” The computer said, and they looked back over to see Wally flat on his back with Robin standing over him.

“Finally!” Kid Flash groaned, “Were you toying with me or what? You and I both know you could’ve creamed me ages ago. What gives?”

“Sorry, KF, guess I was distracted,” Robin said. He did seem kind of fidgety, glancing over at the door every few seconds.

“Something up?” Wally asked.

“Nah, just family stuff at home. Nothing serious, but I really should get going,” Robin replied, fingering one of the pouches on his belt.

“Say no more,” Wally held up his hands, “Maybe without you around I’ll finally win for once.”

Robin cackled, but his heart didn’t seem in it, and he was out the door in a hurry. The girls watched him go, slightly concerned.

“Oh hey, cookies!” Wally cheered, zooming over “Megs, you are the best!” 

“Now what would your mysterious girlfriend say if she heard that?” she teased slightly, holding the tray out of reach.

“She’d agree with me,” Kid Flash said nonchalantly, “Your cookies are the bomb, Megs, you know that.”

“His ex-girlfriend says he’s not wrong,” Artemis smirked as she munched on a cookie of her own, “White chocolate macadamia nut? You’re spoiling us.”

“Thank you,” M’gann blushed as Kaldur and Connor wandered in smelling like sea water.

“Hey,” Artemis greeted, kissing Kaldur’s cheek as Megan flew into Connor’s arms and did her level best to see if Kryptonians could suffocate, “How was Atlantis?”

“Well enough,” her boyfriend told her as he pulled her into a hug, “It’s good to see you, Artemis. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too,” she smiled.

“Would the four of you please cut it out with the PDA?” Wally groaned as Zatanna and Rocket laughed at him.

Three of the offenders flushed bright red and jerked back, but Artemis just smirked.

“You’re just jealous because you and your girlfriend can’t make out in the training room,” she accused with a laugh.

“Guilty,” he raised his hands, “But hey, Black Canary’s supposed to come back soon, and if she catches you you’ll be doing pushups till the cows come home.”

“What do you think, Kaldur? You willing to take that chance?” Artemis eyed her boyfriend mischievously, but before he could answer, Batman entered the room.

“Batman,” Aqualad greeted, going to attention, “Did you require something?”

“Have any of you seen Robin?” Batman growled.

“He was just here a minute ago,” Zatanna replied, “He said something about having family stuff?”

“Is something wrong?” Aqualad asked as Kid Flash shifted guiltily.

Batman stared at them all, visibly contemplating whether or not he should answer. He finally gave a tiny, all but imperceptible sigh, and spoke, voice devoid of all inflection.

“Robin hasn’t been home in four months.”

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Robin exited a zeta tube and breathed a sigh of relief, shoulders relaxing for the first time in what felt like days. He hurriedly crossed the street to the small safe house he had set up there and keyed the door open. There wasn’t much in there, really, just the things he needed to switch between the two lives he lived. He switched costumes first, the dark Gotham-appropriate colors being exchanged for what he privately considered his real costume, the one that stood as a beacon of hope for his city. He spiked his hair in the way he preferred in swift, practiced motions, and pressed a button on his round yellow communicator, signaling that he was able to answer again. Almost immediately a round of messages welcoming him back started to come through.

Robin smiled softly and tucked the communicator away again, grabbing his motorcycle and popping the kickstand. He vaulted onto it and peeled away as soon as the garage door was high enough for him to get under it. The bike roared, and Robin raced towards the glittering tower on the bay, his home.


	2. The Team Panics, Robin is Oblivious

“What do you mean Robin hasn’t been home in four months?” Superboy demanded, “Where else would he be?”

“Well clearly not here,” Batman snapped.

“This was the first time he’d been here in months, too,” Megan gasped, “Do you think…”

“I don’t know,” Batman abruptly turned his back, “If you don’t know where he is, I have to keep looking.” He swept out of the room as quickly as he’d come in.

“Wait, Batman!” Zatanna began indignantly, but he was already gone.

“He’s worse than Robin,” Artemis groused.

* * *

Robin came squealing into the garage, parking his bike and stowing his helmet. He headed for the elevator with purpose in his stride rather than the carefree bounce he put on among the team, but his  eagerness and pleasure were still entirely obvious if you knew what you were looking for.

The elevator rose higher, and Robin couldn’t help the smirk that grew across his face as the voices echoing from the living room grew louder and louder.

The doors to the common room slid open and he stood for a moment, watching his fellow titans as they went about their days, Raven on the couch with a book, Starfire playing with Silkie, and Cyborg and Beast Boy bickering like brothers. Robin just took a moment to breathe and be relieved he was home again, with his family. Then he spoke up with a smirk.

“You know, I was kind of worried that I was going to come back and find you all wearing my clothes again.”

“Robin!” Starfire flew forward and pulled him into a rib cracking hug, “You’ve returned! It is so good to have you back!”

“Good to be back, Star,” he managed, even if it was a bit strangled, and as soon as she released him he took a very deep breath before going in for a short kiss.

“Welcome back, Robin,” Raven said, “Did you take care of what you needed to?

“Yeah,” he smiled at her, one arm still around Starfire’s waist, “Could’ve stayed longer, but I wanted to get back.”

Raven raised an eyebrow, but whatever she might’ve said after that was cut off when Cyborg came charging over.

“Dude, good to have you back,” he clapped Robin on the back, “Was weird not having you after getting to keep you to ourselves for a while. Now would you please tell BB that his nasty tofu isn’t anywhere near good as meat?”

“Yes it is!” Beast Boy hollered, and the argument began again as the two of them wrestled over the stove. With a sigh, Raven used her powers to turn it off before anyone got burned, and Starfire started getting out the ingredients for one of her traditional Tamaranean dishes. Robin grabbed some of the spices out for her, then pulled out his laptop and settled onto the couch. He had work to do, but there was no reason he couldn’t do it while enjoying the company of his friends. Beast Boy and Cyborg eventually realized that Starfire had beaten them to the punch and grumbled their way over to the couch, where they booted up the game system. Raven picked a spot a little ways away and was quickly absorbed in her book. Silkie hopped onto the couch and snuggled up on Robin’s lap. He smiled and patted its head. Soon the tower had settled into its daily rhythm, and Robin basked in it. It was good to be home.

* * *

“How could we have not noticed Robin hadn’t been going home?” Megan asked, dropping her head into her hands, “We are terrible friends.”

“I thought there was just something going on in Gotham, when he stopped coming,” Superboy growled, “Why wouldn’t he come to us if something was wrong?”

Wally winced slightly, but covered it up. “I’m sure he’s fine, this is Robin, remember? Guy can kick all of our butts with one arm tied behind his back. And he was just here an hour ago, he seemed fine then.”

“True,” Kaldur mused, “However, I am sure we would all feel better if we knew for sure.”

“So what’s the plan then?” Artemis asked, “Hang around here and hope he comes back?”

“I don’t think I like that plan,” Zatanna said with a soft frown, “He could need our help, and we can’t help him all sitting around here.” 

“And I’m going to need to head home soon,” Wally piped up, making a show of looking at the clock, “I’ve got family stuff this afternoon.”

“I’m supposed to be helping at the day camp the cheer squad is putting on for the elementary school girls,” M’gann groaned.

Several of them chimed in then with remembered commitments they had made or things they needed to do.

“Alright,” Aqualad quieted them all down, “For now, all of you should go home, take care of what you need to, and clear your schedules. We’ll meet back here tomorrow to get answers and come up  with a plan.”

“Good idea,” Zatanna agreed. 

Slowly they all meandered out, murmuring to each other. Wally was the first one through the zeta tubes. He rushed home and locked himself in, checking and double checking that there wasn’t anyone who could hear him. Then he pulled out a round yellow communicator and flipped it open.

“Rob? We have a problem…”


	3. The Titans Decide

Kid Flash’s face flickered up onto the big screen. “Rob? We have a problem.”

“What is it, Kid Flash?” Robin asked, titans gathering around their leader.

“Man, I don’t know what you were trying to pull, but Batman is losing his mind over you not having been home,” Kid Flash said in a hushed voice, “And now the team knows, too. They’re planning to get together tomorrow to look for you.”

“Dang,” Cyborg whispered. The titans had known about the team ever since the first debacle with Slade. Robin had been reluctant, but he wanted the titans to have someone to turn to if something like that happened again. They’d nearly gone to the league for help during the brotherhood of evil crisis, but they knew if they did that there would be no going back, and the titans valued their independence too much for that. Recently they’d even gotten Robin to loosen up enough to tell them some funny stories about the missions he’d gone on with the team, but he never talked about Batman.

“What’d you want me to do?” Kid Flash asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Robin said after a long pause, “Give me an hour to think it over, and I’ll call you back and let you know.”

“Right. Kid Flash out.”

The screen went black, then returned to having a view of the ocean. Robin stood for a moment with his eyes closed, breathing deeply.

“Robin?” Starfire asked.

“Just… give me a minute, Star,” he said, not looking at her.

“What are we going to do?” Beast Boy asked, “I mean, it’s not like they could make us disband now, we’re worldwide!”

“And the blockers you put on their computer systems are still working, I checked them yesterday. You can’t even see news articles about us using their wifi,” Cyborg chimed in.

“With them actively looking those won’t last long,” Robin said, “I wanted more time than this.”

“Well you don’t get more time than this,” Raven said bluntly, “So what are you going to do instead?”

“I don’t know,” he said, turning to face the others, “What do you guys think?”

“Uh, us?” Beast Boy pointed at himself quizzically.

“Yes, you,” Robin may or may not have rolled his eyes under the mask, it was hard to tell, “Do you want to help or not?”

“We’ll help,” Raven said.

“Of course we will!” Starfire cried indignantly, “Do not dare think we would not!”

“I appreciate that, Star,” Robin chuckled, “Okay, then, let’s talk.”

* * *

“Uh, guys?” Several hours later, the wall screen lit up, “Getting kind of worried. You guys figure things out?”

“Yeah,” Robin sighed, “We think…” he hesitated, and Starfire laid a supportive hand on his shoulder, “If they figure us out, they figure us out. We were lucky to make it as long as we did, and we’re established enough they couldn’t make us disband if they tried. There’s no harm in letting them find out now.” Cyborg and Raven nodded in approval.

“You sure?” Kid Flash asked.

“Of course,” Robin snapped.

“Okay,” Kid Flash nodded, “What do you need me to do?” 

“Keep an eye on the team tomorrow,” Robin ordered, “Don’t tell them anything, but don’t try to stop them, either. If and when they figure it out, let me know. That’s an explanation I’ll need to handle myself.”

“Got it,” Kid shot off a sloppy salute, “So what are you going to do if they do find out? I’ve been doing okay splitting my time, but I know you have a lot more responsibilities to the titans than I do.”

“Cross that bridge when we get to it,” Robin said briskly, “See you soon.”

“See you. Kid Flash out.”

* * *

“Something still troubles you,” Starfire said, coming to sit beside Robin on the edge of the roof, “What’s wrong?”

He sighed, “I never wanted the Justice League to find out about us. I knew it wasn’t realistic, but I really did hope…”

“Why?” Starfire asked, “They are your family, the ones who raised you and fought beside you. I have been most eager to meet your other friends, and your k’norfka. Why have you kept us a secret for so long?”

“Star…” Robin sighed again, giving her a wry smile, “I can’t hide anything from you anymore, can I?”

She shook her head, gleeful grin only barely suppressed.

“We’re in a much better position now than we were in even a month ago,” Robin told her, staring out at the ocean, “If we were going to be found out, it’s better it’s now, while public opinion is good. If the Justice League tries to force us to disband, get us arrested for vigilantism, that will keep us safer.”

“Do you believe they would do so?” Starfire asked.

“Probably not, but Star, how could I risk it?” he asked, “You don’t have a legal identity here on earth. Neither do Raven, or Aqualad, or Kilowatt, or even Speedy. And that’s not even getting into Jinx and Rose, or even Cyborg and Beast Boy, I’m nearly ninety percent certain they’re technically missing persons. If the league got it into their heads we were a threat, they could destroy all of you. I can’t let that happen.”

“It will not happen,” Starfire said firmly, “You will protect us. And if your Justice League tries, I am the princess of Tamaran. I can offer sanctuary if nothing else will do.”

Robin smiled lopsidedly at her. “Thanks, Star, that’s a weight off my mind.”

“You two done?” Raven asked, “Dinner will be getting here soon, and we both know Robin won’t eat unless we make him.”

“I’m not that bad,” Robin complained, “. . .When I’m not on a case.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Raven said blandly, turning to head back inside. Starfire pulled Robin to his feet, and the three of them headed back down together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was wondering, Speedy is another clone. I have absolutely no idea at all where TT Aqualad came from. I also have no idea how the heck to spell anything tamaranean.
> 
> Edit: Before anyone else asks, TT Aqualad is not Garth. Full explanation is in the authors note on chapter 6


	4. The Team Searches and Kid Flash Dreads The Inevitable Fallout

Wally wandered into Mount Justice a few minutes late, purposefully nonchalant but really about to be sick with nerves. It was only a matter of time now before the team and league discovered the titans, and how he and Robin had been lying to them for nearly two years now. It was going to be ugly, and messy, and Kid Flash could see it coming a mile away, but couldn’t think of a way to stop or dodge it.

“Hey, Wally,” M’gann greeted him as he came in. Everyone else was already gathered in the ops center, and someone, probably Megan, had conned Superboy into hauling in a table and chairs.

“Now that everyone is here, we can begin,” Aqualad said, “Do any of you have any ideas?”

“Are there any places Robin might have gone?” Zatanna asked, “Someplace he might hide, or even just be hanging out?”

“Wally, you’ve known him the longest,” Megan turned to him, “Can you think of anyplace like that?”

“I checked a couple of them yesterday, but most of them are in Gotham,” Wally lied blatantly, “And if he were in Gotham, Batman would have found him by now.” That part at least was true, which was why no one affiliated with the titans was allowed in Gotham.

“There has to be something we can do!” M’gann said, “He can’t have just disappeared off the face of the earth! We’re superheroes, we should be able to find him!”

“If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears,” Artemis said sardonically.

“I don’t see you coming up with anything,” Connor frowned at her.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Artemis snapped, and soon everyone was fighting. Wally stared with wide eyes, leaning back in his chair. Some of the chairs began to float as M’gann got more and more heated, and Wally took that as his cue to make for the wall at speed. 

“Enough!” Kaldur finally shouted, slamming his hands down, “Arguing does no good for anyone, least of all Robin. If you cannot behave as the heroes and professionals you should be I will ask you to leave until you can.”

“Sorry, Kaldur,” Megan said abashedly, setting the chairs back down.

Everyone else apologized too as Wally cautiously came back over.

“I understand this is a trying time for us,” Aqualad said calmly, “But we must not lose focus. We are here to try and find Robin. That is what matters.”

Wally hid a wince. He’d almost managed to forget that with the chaos of the fight. He knew that the truth was going to have to come out eventually, but it was going to be such a mess, and he was going to be at ground zero when the crap hit the fan, unlike Robin, who was safely ensconced in his girlfriend’s arms on the other side of the country. Why wasn’t he the one doing this again?

“I actually did have an idea,” Zatanna raised her hand, “Have any of us checked online? It might not tell us where he is right now, but if we can figure out what he’s been doing that might help us figure it out.”

“Good idea,” Aqualad nodded, “Does anyone else have any ideas?”

General consensus was that no they did not. At least the internet search would give them a place to start.

“Then we’ll… search the internet,” Kaldur’s lips quirked at the subtle pun.

* * *

Three days later the suspense was killing everyone and Wally was seriously considering just telling them himself so he could get it over with. Only the knowledge that Robin would kill him if he did that was stopping him.

Connor was very nearly crushing the mouse on his computer. He kept having to stop and breathe for a minute before he could keep scrolling. Artemis had her bow out and was shooting angrily at a target on the other side of the room. Zatanna was quietly trying not to cry in the corner, and Megan was trying to comfort her but failing because she was close to tears herself. Rocket had taken off hours ago to go flying and possibly smash some rocks. Kaldur was sitting off by himself, with his head in his hands. 

Wally winced. The team wasn’t as close as the original titans, but it was still killing him to see them like this. Maybe he really should just risk Robin’s wrath and tell them. He’d agree if he could see this. The team might not be his family the way the titans were, but they were still his friends, and he wouldn’t want them to be hurting. Even that time with the starrotech hadn’t beat them up quite this bad. At least then they’d been able to do something about it. Right. Give them another day, and then…

“You guys!” Rocket came bursting in, waving her cell phone, “I got a lead!”

“You did?” Everyone stood up quickly.

“Yeah, so I wore myself out,” Rocket explained, “And I ducked into a fast food place somewhere in Providence to use their wifi and get a milkshake, and I saw this!” She flourished her phone proudly, a bright red website full of photos displayed. And yup, that was a teen titans fan page. Well, if the cat wasn’t out of the bag yet, it would be within the hour. Saved Wally the trouble, he supposed.

“Is that Robin?” Zatanna asked, peering at the picture, “What on earth…”

Rocket succeeded in casting the image to the big computer, and everyone gathered around, staring. 

It was a pretty good group shot of the original five titans, Kid Flash had to admit. It looked like it had been taken after their last fight with Doctor Light, one that Robin had told Kid Flash had been over within five minutes because the idiot had broken his own amplifier array. Cyborg was standing tall and strong, machinery shining. Beast Boy was very clearly about to tell a stupid joke, grinning so wide it looked like it would split his face open. Raven had her hood down, a rarity for any picture that made it public, and she was trying to hide a smile, but not succeeding. Starfire had her arm wrapped around Raven’s shoulders, smiling and telling a story. But everyone’s attention was on the one in front. Robin.

He looked like he always did with the titans, tall and confident, hair spiked up and colorful costume. Wally had thought it looked weird the first time he’d seen Robin like that, but now it was almost weirder seeing him in the old uniform. Not that the team thought that…

“Is that… Robin?” Megan asked.

“He looks…” Zatanna trailed off.

“Really weird,” Artemis finished.

“What is this?” Connor asked, folding his arms angrily.

“A fan page for a group called the Teen Titans,” Rocket replied, scrolling busily, “I’d heard of them, but I always assumed they were pretty small-time and local, you know? But the news station was talking about how they’d uncovered massive corruption in Tokyo when their leader was falsely accused of murder, so I looked them up, and lo and behold…”

She switched pictures, this one the shot of the entire active roster of titans, taken during another Dr. Light bust, the one they’d all gone on after taking out the Brotherhood of Evil. Kid Flash remembered that picture. He’d given Jinx rabbit ears, and would’ve gotten Robin if he’d been close enough for it. But he wasn’t, because Robin was, once again, right up front and center with the originals, and Kid Flash had been towards the back. He was grateful for that now. Maybe it would delay the inevitable…

“Wait, look at that,” Connor pointed, “In the back. Is that…”

As one, everyone turned to look at Kid Flash.

‘Yeah, heh ehe,” Internally Wally cursed his luck, but on the outside all he did was smile, “Surprise?”


	5. First Contact, Robin Freaks, and The Team Heads Out

“Something you’d like to tell us?” Artemis asked.

“The suspense was killing me,” Kid Flash smirked, much more confidently than he felt, “I probably would have broken and told you soon, but if Robin had found out I did that he’d have had kittens.”

“So you do know where Robin is,” Aqualad stated.

“Yup, and I can contact him right now,” Wally flipped his communicator open and plugged it into the big screen. “Kid Flash calling Robin.”

Robin’s face appeared on the screen, “What is it Kid… oh.” He fell silent as he noticed the team all staring at him.

“Robin?” Zatanna asked.

“Yeah, guess you figured it out,” he said, seeming distracted, and someone kicked him in the face. There was a brief scuffle before Robin reappeared on the screen, “Look, I’m in the middle of something, can we do this later?”

“Need me to run over and help?” Kid Flash asked.

“It’s just the Hive Five,” Robin said distractedly as an explosion rocked the picture, “Nothing we can’t handle… ack!”

Whatever Robin was using to talk to them apparently went flying as the image spun dizzyingly, and was caught by one of the other people from the photo, the one with all the metal.

“Hey, Cyborg,” Kid Flash waved.

“Kid?” Cyborg peered at the screen, “What’re you calling… oh,” he looked at the team semi-blankly, “Right, we’re kind of busy right now, explanations are going to have to wait.”

“Figured,” Kid Flash yawned, hooking his hand behind his head, “Robin said you guys didn’t need help?”

“It’s just the HIVE Five,” Cyborg dismissed, “They don’t have the attention spans to be a real threat, but we’re gonna be busy for a bit.” Over his shoulder, there was an explosion, “Robin’s going to have my head for suggesting this, but why don’t you bring them here? We’ll let them see what he’s been up to for themselves.”

“Great, see you soon!” Kid Flash saluted, “Later!” The screen went black.

“What was that?” Connor demanded, “Who were they?”

“Those were the Teen Titans,” Kid Flash told him, “Robin’s team.”

“His  _ what _ ?” Artemis asked.

“Robin has another team?” Zatanna asked, “How long has this been going on?”

“Year and a half? Two years?” Kid Flash shrugged, “I’ve known for about half of that, been a member maybe three months, but he asked me to keep quiet.”

“And you did it?” Artemis demanded. Secretly she was glad that he hadn’t found out while they were dating. At least he hadn’t lied to her then. 

“Of course. He trusted me,” Kid Flash said plainly, “I wasn’t going to break his trust.”

“Wait, you’re a member too?” Rocket asked.

“I mean… I am in the picture,” he said hesitantly, waving at the now blank screen.

“We will discuss this later,” Kaldur said firmly, “For now, I believe that we have received an invitation.”

“Hey, now I can introduce you to my girlfriend too!” Wally lit up.

“Really?” M’gann squeaked in excitement.

“Where are we going, then?” Zatanna asked.

“Jump City.”

* * *

“You what?” Robin yelled as the Hive Five were led away in handcuffs, “Why?”

“Because you and I both know that if I didn’t, you’d have put off explanations for the rest of your life,” Cyborg was unmoved, “And that would definitely come back to bite us in the butt.”

Robin growled, running his hands through his hair, “Fine. No one can use the Jump Zeta tube but me, and it’s a four hour flight by bioship, that puts them here mid afternoon. Call Kid back, tell him to call when they’re half an hour out. I’m going to go make sure the tower’s ready for visitors. You get to explain to the others why we’re going to have six extra people in the tower this afternoon. And to Jinx why date night is going to be interrupted.”

Cyborg went gratifyingly pale.

“Is something wrong?” Raven asked Robin while Starfire signed a little girl’s cast and Beast Boy mugged for the cameras. 

Robin watched Star with an odd mix of affection, protectiveness, and dread. “Cyborg can explain. I have work to do. Lots to get done.”

* * *

“So, how is it that no one in the league knew about Robin’s other team?” Rocket asked as they loaded into the bioship.

“Rob put a lot of effort into making sure they didn’t, that’s how,” Kid Flash responded, leg jiggling so fast it was barely visible, “Didn’t you notice that you couldn’t make that fan page load on the cave  wifi? That’s why.”

“Okay, but why?” Zatanna asked, “I mean, he didn’t really need to go to so much trouble. He could’ve had the titans join the team. It’s not like we haven’t been recruiting.”

“No he couldn’t have, for a variety of reasons, most of which I am shamelessly going to shove off on him to explain,” Wally replied, “But there are a few things you should know.”

“Like what?” Superboy asked truculently.

“Okay, so very long story short, the Brain was pulling double duty and leading a group called the Brotherhood of Evil,” Wally explained, “And they were targeting young heroes, the next generation, you know? They got ahold of a titans communicator and used it to track us, and managed to capture most of us, including Robin, and, well, what they did with the ones they did catch wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fun, and everyone’s a little… tense, still. Just… don’t be jerks. They’ve all been running off their feet trying to protect people and each other, and they’re still a bit high strung.”

“If they were targeting young heroes, why didn’t you or Robin say anything to us?” Connor demanded, “We were targets, too.”

“I didn’t say anything because Robin asked me to,” The full time members of the team got the feeling they were going to hear that many more times before the day was out as Kid Flash hooked his hands behind his head, “And why he didn’t say anything? My guess is that he was leaving you guys for last because you had resources and protection from the league and didn’t need it from the titans, then later on when he figured out that the brotherhood was tracking us somehow, he didn’t want to lead them to you. The team’s still secret, even to most of the titans.”

“Really?” Rocket asked, thrown.

“Really,” Wally nodded, “The only reason I know about you is because I’m a member myself and Robin left it to my discretion who I told. I know he told Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy, because after something he still won’t tell me about in their first year working together he wanted them to have someone to go to for help if they needed to and he wasn’t around. Other than that, I don’t think  he told anyone.”

“Considerate,” Artemis said semi-sarcastically.

“Well, he’s got a stick up his butt, but he cares,” Wally smiled wryly, “Now let’s get this show on the road! It’s a long flight to Jump.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, some of y'all are bloodthirsty. The team isn't going to kill Wally! They still need him ;) But seriously, they are heroes, give them a little bit of credit for perspective and restraint. And Wally credit for knowing how to defuse things.


	6. In Which Interesting Things Come to Light and the Team Meets Raven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, everybody! It's not particularly seasonal, but I hope that you enjoy this new chapter anyway!

The first hour or two were almost entirely silent. Megan tried to get a conversation going a few times, but it always sputtered awkwardly out within a few minutes. A few of them tried to get more answers out of Wally, but he was uncharacteristically close-lipped, just staring out the window with his leg jiggling so fast they could barely see it. In fact, it was jiggling so fast it was starting to slide into the floor!

“Wally!” Megan cried in horror, and he jumped, quickly pulling his leg back out of the undamaged floor.

“Aw man, I haven’t done that in months,” he complained, “Must be more nervous than I thought.”

“Done what?” Artemis asked.

“Vibrated my molecules on accident,” he grumbled, examining his leg like it had betrayed him, “I thought I was over it!”

“Vibrated your molecules on accident?” Zatanna asked, “I didn’t think you could vibrate your molecules at all.”

“Er, yeah, it’s kind of a recent development,” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Haven’t told Uncle Barry, yet.”

“Is there a reason you have not?” Kaldur asked.

Wally sighed heavily, “Very, very long story.”

“We have a long flight ahead of us,” Kaldur pointed out.

Kid Flash made a face, but tipped his head back to the ceiling and began to speak. “It was maybe six months ago? I’d started working more and more alone or with the titans, trying to get a feel for who I was away from Uncle Barry. Love the guy to death, he’s the best uncle and mentor that I could ever ask for, but I was getting to be an adult and I needed to figure myself out without him.” 

Wally started to get more animated as the story went on, life coming back to his face, “Anyway, I was in Jump, on my way to visit Robin, when a supervillain comes crashing through, making a huge ruckus, and started throwing cars around. One of them was headed towards this little girl, no older than three, probably wandered away from her mother. I was too far away, there was no way that I was going to make it on time, but I knew I had to try. Next thing I know I’m nearly a mile down the road with that little girl in my arms. After the others took out the monster, Rob ran some tests, and it turns out that I was moving more than fast enough for the tricks Uncle Barry pulled. He figures that since I was always so convinced that I was slower that even though I was getting faster all the time I couldn’t actually go faster while I was with him, because I was convinced I couldn’t. After that, well, the tricks started coming easy.”

“But that’s wonderful news!” Megan chirped, “Why wouldn’t you tell your uncle?”

“Tell him what? That he was holding me back? That I’m better without him?” Wally laughed bitterly, “And worse, I have quantifiable proof that it’s true? I can’t do that to him. So I keep things slow around him, and the league too. It’s easier that way.”

“The same way keeping nearly half his life secret from his friends and family was easier for Robin?” Artemis snarked, lifting one eyebrow.

Wally choked on his words, stuttering and stopping, and eventually falling silent, staring out the window.

* * *

Eventually the coast came into view, and with it Jump City, glittering under the sun. And nothing glittered brighter than Titans Tower, shining in the bay. The bioship came in for a landing, settling onto the helicopter pad on the roof of the tower. 

Raven stood waiting by the door, hood blown back by the wind of their approach. She watched as the door flowed open, then Kid Flash was out, settled and confident the way he denied being in Titans Tower. He was like Robin, that way. Sure, they were happy with their other friends, but it was out here, where they had room to stretch and grow under the California sun, that they really seemed to fill their entire skin and settled into their own bones. All the main titans had noticed it, seen the acts they put on as they were leaving and how shrunken they seemed. Raven wondered if the “team” would notice, and what they’d make of it.

“Hey, Rave!” Kid Flash came darting up, arm around her shoulders in a moment, “It’s been ages! How’ve you been, girl?”

“I’ve been,” she replied, removing his arm from her person with her powers but not backing away, “So, this is the famous team?”

“Yup, This is Zatanna, Superboy, Miss Martian, Rocket, Artemis, and Aqualad,” Kid Flash waved his hand to each of them in turn, “Everyone, this is Raven, one of the founding members of the teen titans. You’ll meet the others downstairs.”

“When Robin stops having an aneurysm every three seconds freaking out over you,” Raven inserted dryly, “If he actually dropped dead, Starfire would kill me.”

“Is he still freaking out? It’s been four hours!” Kid Flash asked, surprised.

* * *

“Rob, chill,” Beast Boy said, hanging upside down off the couch, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Cyborg said lowly as Robin’s ranting increased several decibels.

Raven shook her head and went to wait for them on the roof.

* * *

Raven just shrugged. “You know Robin. The others are waiting for us in the living room.”

“Awesome,” Kid Flash grinned.

“And Jinx said she was coming by,” Raven continued, and raised one eyebrow at the absolute terror that whipped over Kid Flash for a split second. He glanced nervously over at the girl he called Artemis, who was holding hands with Aqualad, a different one than the titans had met. Ah. The ex-girlfriend. That would be interesting.

* * *

“Robin, please,” Starfire finally grabbed him by the hand, stopping him in his tracks, “They are your friends, yes?”

“Of course,” he replied.

“Then I am sure everything will work out,” Starfire said firmly, “You must not worry so. We will meet them, and they will meet us, and we will all have a wonderful time making friends. It does no one any good to fret like a Lingam Rufbat. Now breathe,” She demonstrated, blowing her torso up like a balloon.

Robin shook his head but imitated her, sucking in a long breath and letting it out slowly.

“There. That is much better, isn’t it?” She laid a gentle kiss on his cheek.

Raven sank through the ceiling, apparently having taken the direct route from the roof. “They’re here.”

“Right. Right.” Robin took another deep breath, “Right. Kid Flash showing them the way down?”

Raven nodded.

“Okay. Guess it’s time for you guys to meet the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did the explanation of why TT Wally is so much faster than YJ Wally make sense? I hope it made sense.
> 
> Also, thank you to everyone who tried to tell me TT Aqualad was Garth. I am aware he was most likely meant to be Garth, however, there is already a YJ Garth, and the two are different enough I couldn't reconcile their priorities, their looks, their personalities, or their timeline. Luckily, since TT Aqualad was never given another name, that gives me leeway. So for the purposes of this story, TT Aqualad is not Garth because Garth is in Atlantis dating Tula. TT Aqulad is someone else.


	7. The Team Meets the Titans (oh dear)  But It Actually Goes Okay!

The team walked in, and Robin almost let himself fall back into the act he’d been keeping up for years. Then Starfire grabbed his arm in excitement, and it grounded him. The sly, mischievous grin he’d begun to paint on slid into something more natural, more true. He straightened his shoulders and strode forward.

“Welcome to Titans Tower.”

“We are glad to be here,” Kaldur nodded, ignoring the doubtful look his girlfriend was making behind his back.

“You’ve already met Raven,” Robin nodded to her, “This is Cyborg, Beast Boy, and my girlfriend Starfire.”

“Girlfriend?” Zatanna squeaked a little bit, but it was lost in the hubbub as Starfire swept forward to pull them all into a hug.

“New friends!” Starfire cheered, “I have been looking forward to meeting Robin’s other friends for such a long time.” Several of them started to turn faintly purple from the hug.

Kid Flash laughed from the other side of the room, leaning against the couch, “I’d heard you two finally got together. Congrats!”

“Yeah, it’s fairly recent, but…” Robin watched Starfire as she finally let the team down and they all gasped for breath with a soft expression, “It was a long time coming.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Kid Flash snapped his fingers, “Who won the betting pool?”

“The what now?” Rocket asked.

“Raven did,” Cyborg replied, “Next time she isn’t allowed to bet.”

“You guys were betting on me?” Robin asked incredulously, but the next moment he was yanked into the kitchen by Starfire to help her prepare a traditional tamaranean dish for the team, so he never got an answer.

Cyborg laughed and took Robin’s place in front of the team, holding out a hand for Aqualad to shake, “Don’t mind Star, she’s just a little enthusiastic. All of us are, actually, just in different ways. Good to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Miss Martian smiled.

“Hey, who wants tofu dogs?” Beast Boy yelled, emerging from the fridge with a package of them in hand.

“Man, nobody wants your nasty fake meat!” Cyborg yelled back. Miss Martian couldn't help but think that Beast Boy looked… familiar, somehow, but she couldn’t place him.

“Anyway, make yourselves at home,” Cyborg smiled at them, “We’re probably going to end up going out to eat later if no one manages to cook anything edible, but for now we’re just planning to hang around here.” Then he wandered into the kitchen, presumably to check and see if anything cooked in there was going to be edible. 

The team hesitated by the doors in a clump, clearly not sure what to do. Kid Flash had no such reservations, zipping all over like he owned the place and cheerfully chatting with various members of the titans.

“Come on, Megan. You have got to come meet Starfire, you guys will love each other! Two most gorgeous girls I know.” He grabbed her hand with an eager yank.

“Wow. Nice to see I’m so loved,” A dry voice echoed from the doorway, and the team all jumped. They whirled around to see another girl about their age, dressed like a witch with bright pink hair, standing in the hall.

“Aw, Jinx, you know you’re the only one for me,” Kid Flash teased fondly, zipping over to gently kiss her hand. She propped her other hand on her hip and rolled her eyes dramatically, but a fond smirk played at the corners of her mouth.

“Everyone, this is Jinx, my girlfriend” Wally smiled, “We’ve been together for, what, a month or so?” 

“Eh, closer to two,” she responded, waving her hand from side to side, “So these are your other friends huh? I was expecting them to be taller.”

The team members silently noted that Superboy and Kaldur were nearly a foot taller than her each.

“So you’re the mysterious girlfriend, huh?” Artemis sassed back, “Guess Wally finally found someone willing to put up with him for longer than a week.”

“Hey, you put up with me for two,” He defended himself, but Jinx cracked up laughing.

“Oh, I like you,” she smirked, “Wanna talk trash about this goof?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Artemis responded, and the two of them drifted over to the couches, Kid Flash hovering nervously.

Slowly, the other team members started to spread out and settle down, finding people to talk to and exploring the tower. Miss Martian had joined Starfire in the kitchen, and the two of them were chatting up a storm while happily ignoring the faint smell of burning. Beast Boy had tried to flirt with Rocket and Zatanna and gotten shot down hard, but the two of them were now relaxed and laughing helplessly, so it wasn’t a total loss. Afterwards, he’d volunteered to show Rocket their training course. Raven and Aqualad had gotten to chatting about different schools of magic, and even Superboy had been goaded into arm wrestling with Cyborg. Neither of them was giving an inch. Robin watched it all. For all his fears, this was actually going very well.

The alarm chose that exact moment to go off, because of course it did.

“Titans, trouble!” Robin barked. Immediately they all broke off their conversations and gathered around the screen,

“Aw man, Plasmus again?” Beast Boy complained as they watched the news report.

“Those HIVE idiots must’ve woken him up while they were being taken back to jail,” Cyborg noted.

“Right. Titans, Go!”

“We’ll help,” Zatanna offered, standing up, the rest of the team following suit.

“No need, we’ve dealt with Plasmus before,” Robin said brusquely, checking his utility belt, “Kid Flash, keep an eye on the situation from here. If there’s been another breakout, let us know.”

“Awesome,” Kid vanished for a moment then was suddenly holding a bucket of popcorn larger than his own torso, “Go kick some butt.”


	8. In Which The Titans Fight Plasmus

“You guys haven’t ever seen the titans in action, have you?” Kid Flash asked in between blurring dizzyingly around the media setup, “Oh, you’re in for a treat.”

“What do you mean?” Zatanna asked.

“Oh, this is gonna be great,” Kid Flash parked himself on the couch next to Jinx with his popcorn, “It’s been ages since I got to see all five of them fighting together.”

“They’ve only gotten better,” Jinx told him, stealing some of his popcorn, “It’s better than an action movie.”

The news report came on, big as a movie theater and twice as sharp. There didn’t appear to actually be a reporter, maybe they got run off earlier in the fight. But the cameraman was doing his job admirably, keeping the giant purple slime monster in focus as it rampaged through downtown Jump.

“What on earth is that thing?” Rocket asked, “It looks gross.”

“You have no idea,” Jinx told her.

There was a shout from one of the civilians on screen, and the camera swung around to the five titans standing on a nearby rooftop, ready for battle. The sun shone down on them like a spotlight, and they seemed to glow under it like suns themselves. 

Starfire and Raven, floating side by side, looked like avatars of justice and victory, radiant, fierce, and beautiful as goddesses. Beast Boy, crouched at the edge of the roof, smiled feral and sly, all of his goofiness put away for the moment and replaced with pure unpredictability and adrenaline. Cyborg gleamed in the light like a knight of old, technology straight out of a sci-fi flick glowing and revving up. And right front and center was Robin, tall and proud, shining like a beacon and entirely comfortable in his own skin in a way that the team was only now realizing they had never seen him before.

“I’d give you a chance to surrender, but we both know you’re too stupid to take it,” Robin called, voice clear above the hubbub, “Titans, go!”

They didn’t actually all jump into action at once, the team noticed. Starfire was the first to move, blasting the monster with beams from both hands, followed by Cyborg, backing her up with his arm cannon. Only then did the others move, leaping from the building and into the fight.

The team, when they fought, did so in near absolute silence. They moved in concert, backing one another up, whirling and battling around each other with nary a foot out of place. They trained hours every day to get that kind of synchronization, and anywhere their training failed them, the psychic link smoothed the rough edges, allowing them to seem so coordinated that they shared one mind.

The titans did not fight like that.

“Ooh! That had to hurt!” Kid Flash winced dramatically as Plasmus was slammed into a wall by a wave of black energy.

The titans fought in waves, one or two of them hurtling forward to wear away at the monster before falling back to recover while another one took their place. Robin would occasionally bark orders, but for the most part they all seemed to know what to do without being told. They didn’t fight like they all shared a mind, or even like they all shared a plan, unless that plan was “pummel until he stops moving”. Half the time it seemed like they weren’t working together at all except incidentally. And yet…

“Ewwww…” Jinx groaned as Beast Boy got grabbed and slimed. Every other female in the room shuddered in agreement, and a few of the guys, too.

Robin never took a leap without someone, usually Starfire, ready to catch him within an instant. Cyborg never took a shot without his teammates instantly dodging out of the way without even having to look, leading Plasmus into trap after trap. Speaking of Plasmus, anytime it looked like one of his wild swings might actually connect, Raven’s shield was there, ready and waiting for him to spatter against. Beast Boy never charged without someone immediately coming up from behind to back him up. Starfire never once came close to even bruising her teammates as she would catch and throw them around the battle like rag dolls.

Beast Boy had shown Rocket how they trained, and mostly, they each focused on their own individual skills and abilities, hardly ever practicing how best to work together. Their coordination wasn’t the product of training, their synchronization wasn’t the product of a psychic link. Everything they did was experience, pure and simple. The titans trusted their teammates would have their backs one hundred percent, because they always did. It was plain familiarity that had Starfire catching Robin, Beast Boy jumping away at the last second to let Plasmus get pummeled by an arm cannon or levitating car. It was incredibly cool to watch, but for the team, also kind of sad. They had somehow missed their youngest founder finding new friends, a new team, and fighting with them until they could all probably tell where one another were blindfolded.

Finally, an explosion of green and black power sends the monster’s slimy body scattering down the street, leaving behind a skinny, sickly man asleep in the road.

“Aw, yes!” Wally cheered, throwing his hands in the air, “That was awesome!”

“Think they broke their record for fastest Plasmus takedown,” Jinx agreed, sitting back with a smile. The computer beeped, and the view on the tv screen switched from a news station to Robin’s communicator, looking satisfied.

“We finished up with Plasmus, anything going on back at the tower?” Robin asked.

“Nope, everything’s clean and clear,” Kid Flash reported.

“Great,” Robin smiled, “We were going to get pizza to celebrate. You guys want to join us?”

The team shared a look between themselves, “We’d be honored,” Kaldur said for all of them.

“Great. Kid, Jinx, we’ll wait for you at our normal pizza place, you know the one. Mind showing the team where it is?”

“You do realize I am still on the team?” Kid Flash asked, “But sure, I’ll show them where to go.”

“See you in a few,” Robin said, and was tackled by Starfire right as the picture went to black.


	9. The Team and Titans Go Out For Pizza

“So there we were, couple dozen stories below ground, no way out, no way to contact our mentors, no one has any idea where we are, and as soon as we let Supey out of his tube he starts pummeling us!” Kid Flash had the titans enthralled as he told the story of the founding of the team. Robin was pointedly looking anywhere but at them, and Jinx was giving him a smirk.

“I’m sure it can’t have been that bad,” Zatanna, who hadn’t ever heard the whole story either, laughed.

“It was,” Superboy said with a groan.

“Oh, hey, look, the pizza’s here,” Robin pointed out, blatantly changing the subject as the waiter brought over their pies.

“Okay, we’ve got two pepperonis, a veggie supreme, a meat supreme, and a hawaiian,” the waiter said, laying them all on the tables they’d shoved together, “Heroes get half off for keeping us from having to renovate again.”

“Hey, thanks man,” Cyborg said, “Looks great.”

The waiter nodded and went to take care of another table.

“Robin, I did not know you were such a n’farchka as a child!” Starfire laughed, clinging to his arm, “Why have you never told us these stories?”

“Because they’re embarrassing?” he sank lower into his seat at the reminder.

“Nonsense,” Starfire kissed his cheek, “They are adorable. You take yourself much too seriously.”

“Good thing I have you guys around to puncture my ego, then, huh?” He replied, brushing her hair out of her face.

Zatanna looked profoundly uncomfortable. Artemis glanced at her and leaned over.

“Still have a crush on him, huh?” she asked.

“I know he’s got a girlfriend, but it’s only been a couple hours! Gimme a break!” Zatanna hissed back, “I’ll get over it eventually!”

“No worries, I completely get it,” Artemis comforted her as Beast Boy began loudly complaining about PDA in front of the pizza.

“You got any more stories?” Cyborg asked, “Robin never tells us the good ones.”

“I’ve got a good one about Kid Flash,” Artemis piped up, smirking gleefully, “It was the day I joined the team…”

“Come on Artemis, no one wants to hear about that,” he chuckled nervously, “Right?”

“No, I think I want to hear it,” Jinx said, leaning her elbow on the table and laying her cheek on her hand, “Do tell.”

“So I’m in there, getting introduced around, but Kid Flash is running late,” Artemis said, getting into it, “And so we’re all there talking a bit while we wait, then the zeta tube activates and he comes through, but not in his uniform, oh no. He’s in swim trunks, got one of those weird little white things over his nose, carrying a massive armload of beach gear, and talking about how ‘the wall-man’ was there so the party could start. Takes two steps and falls flat on his own face. The umbrella goes flying, the beach towel goes flying, the beach ball bounces right past my feet, and that’s when he notices I’m there.”

“The Wall-man, huh,” Jinx laughed, leaning over her boyfriend to get right up in his flaming face, “What, do I not warrant a beach ball?”

“Oh, he didn’t even know I was there,” Artemis snorted, “Completely clueless until I said something.”

Both of them laughed, and Aqualad decided to take pity. He reached out and took Artemis’s hand gently, calling her attention to him.

“Would it trouble you greatly to leave off tormenting your former boyfriend to pay attention to your current one?” He asked, smiling faintly.

“If I have to,” she rolled her eyes dramatically, but returned his smile with a soft one of her own.

“Oh!” Starfire clapped her hands, “You are such the cute couple! You should come with Robin and I on one of the double dates sometime! None of our other friends are dating but Kid Flash and Jinx, and Jinx refuses to come!”

“That’s because anytime I go anywhere with you we end up covered in mud or oil or tree sap or on one memorable occasion, brownie batter,” Jinx told her.

“Connor and I could come too,” Megan suggested, “It can be a group date.”

Starfire gasped in delight, face lighting up, “Oh, glorious!” she cheered, “We could go to a restaurant, or to the movies, or…”

Within a few minutes the two of them were excitedly planning around a long-suffering Superboy.

Rocket coughed a little bit, not wanting to get caught up in the date planning, “Uh, so! When’re you planning to come back? Batman was absolutely losing his mind looking for you the other day, and we’ve missed you around the mountain.”

The titans all went silent, startled and concerned expressions on their faces. They all, Kid Flash and Jinx included, turned to Robin, who’s hands had clenched into fists. He stared at the table with an unreadable expression on his face.

“What? What’d I say?” Rocket asked, the team all feeling the tension her question had caused, but not knowing why.

“That’s a conversation for somewhere a little more private,” Robin finally said in a tense growl.

“Why? What’s…” Zatanna started, but Cyborg cut her off.

“So! Any of you watch football?” He asked in a forcedly enthusiastic voice. Slowly, conversation started back up again, but no one forgot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Tamaranien terms are made up out of whole cloth.
> 
> I'm thankful for music, sunrises, google drive, and hot chocolate. What are you thankful for? #givethanks


	10. Robin Explains Himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late! This is late! I'm so sorry.

“Okay, talk,” Connor said as soon as they all made it back to titans tower, “Why did you react like that when Rocket asked you when you’re coming back?”

“Ah… Jinx and I have a date,” Wally said awkwardly, “We’ll be back in a few hours!” There was a woosh, and they were both gone.

“Why are you all acting so weird?” Artemis asked, “It was just a simple question.”

The titans were quiet, all looking at Robin.

“Look, I know that you’re all excited to have me around the mountain again,” Robin started, “But I’ve been thinking about leaving the team.”

* * *

“What do you mean, you’re thinking about leaving the team?” Connor demanded, “Why?”

“I have responsibilities to the titans,” Robin told them, “We’re a worldwide network now, and I can’t be splitting my time if I want to give them all the resources, protection, and leadership they need.”

“Bull, if that was all it was you could’ve brought them to the team,” Artemis spat, “What’s your real reason?”

“Hey, he doesn’t have to tell you anything,” Beast Boy snarled, “You don’t get to tell him what to do.”

“Beast Boy, stop,” Robin said, “I knew they’d be upset, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay,” Cyborg disagreed, “They don’t get to come into our house and yell at you like this.”

“Please,” Aqualad stepped forward to defuse the situation, “We are merely surprised and confused. We will accept any explanation you choose to give us, Robin.”

Robin sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “No, you guys do deserve a better explanation than that. Just… give me a minute.” He went over to the window and stared out at the ocean, face even more hidden than it usually was.

“I’ve been Robin since I was nine years old,” he finally admitted, still not looking at the rest of the room, “And from the time I first put on the mask I wasn’t allowed to change. Oh, I could get better, be a better fighter, a better tactician, a better hacker, but everyone expected me to stay that wise-cracking little snotball. You guys were better than the league, but I still had to always keep the act up or deal with everyone wanting to know what was ‘wrong’ when the only thing wrong was that I was growing up and they didn’t want to deal with it. And at first, the titans were just an escape from that, somewhere I didn’t have to pretend all the time and could be out from under Batman’s shadow. It was selfish, frankly, but it led to some of the best times of my life.”

“What…” Megan started, but Zatanna quickly put a hand over her mouth. The titans slowly drifted towards their leader.

“Then, later on, the titans became my family,” Robin continued, still staring out the window as Raven laid a hand on his shoulder, “And I knew I had to protect them. More than half the titans, if they’d gone anywhere near the justice league when we first started out, would have gotten shipped off to foster homes, their old families, science labs, or straight off planet so fast their heads would’ve spun. I couldn’t let that happen. So I went back to the team, back to the league, to make sure no one ever found us, fat lot of good it did in the end. But it did give us time to grow, get stronger. We’re worldwide now, I mentioned that, and the media loves us. If the league tried any of that now, we’d be able to fight back.”

“Did you really think they would?” Megan finally got Zatanna’s hand off her mouth.

“Some of them,” Robin admitted, turning around, “And I couldn’t just show up and hope that cooler heads prevailed, because if I took that risk and failed, everything we built would have been history. And even the more reasonable league members would have tried to monitor us, give us rules, control us. Look what they did when the team started up! We don’t like being controlled, not even by the  ‘good guys’. I wasn’t going to put us in a position where we were going to be."

“So what about us?” Artemis demanded, “Are we just not good enough to know or something?”

“Didn’t want to make you guys lie to your mentors,” Robin said, “But honestly? You guys might be my friends, but the titans are my family. I’d do whatever it took to keep them safe.”

“Hey, we’d do the same for you, man,” Cyborg said as the rest of the titans converged on their leader, clapping a hand on his back.

“Totally,” Beast Boy agreed.

“So? What’re you going to do about it?” Robin asked.

Any answer the team might have given was cut off by another alarm, but this one was different, more urgent.

“Intruder!” Robin yelled, “Cyborg, get our defenses up now!”

“I’m trying man, they’re getting shut back down as fast as I can activate them!” Cyborg said, frantically typing away at his arm.

“The mystical defenses are going down too. I can try… Ugghh!” Raven stumbled, hand going to her head.

“Raven!” Starfire cried, catching her.

“Whoever it is, they’re in the tower, headed this way. I’ll try to get the cameras up…” Cyborg told them, bringing up a grainy picture of the hallway with a black shadow sweeping down the center of the  hall for a split second before the camera feed went to static.

“Wait, I recognize that,” Robin said, eyes wide, “But how did he find us?”

“Who?” Connor asked, the team getting into fighting stances.

The door slid open, and the intruder came in.

Robin strode over, looking more confident than he felt. “Batman,” he greeted his mentor.


	11. The Team and Titans Argue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late! Late again! I am so sorry!

“Robin,” Batman rumbled back, looking around the room with a blank face.

Robin rolled his eyes, “Yes this is where I’ve been, no you don’t get to say anything about it.”

Batman looked back down at him with the distinct impression he was raising his eyebrow.

“Oh for the love of…” Robin started, but cut himself off when he noticed the team and titans all watching raptly. He stalked out of the room, “We’ll do this in my room.”

Batman nodded and silently glided after his son, and the door slid closed behind them.

Beast Boy almost instantly turned into a fly and went buzzing after them, but was caught by Raven.

“Robin deserves his privacy for this,” she said flatly, “Don’t even think about it.”

“Aw, come on!” Beast Boy complained, turning human again, but Raven didn’t budge.

“No.”

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Zatanna asked, at least partially to change the subject.

“Probably telling Batman the same thing he told you,” Cyborg said, “How Batman’s going to react is anyone’s guess, though.”

“I can’t believe you guys said that, though!” Beast Boy yelled, apparently recovering from being stopped in his tracks by Raven, “Seriously? You don’t just ask a dude when he’s going to go back to the people that raised him!”

“And why not?” Rocket demanded, “It’s a valid question!”

“No it isn’t!” Beast Boy insisted, “If he doesn’t want to go back, he doesn’t have to go back!”

“Why wouldn’t he want to come back?” Superboy asked confrontationally.

“Uh, cause you all treat him like a snot nosed kid?” Cyborg asked sarcastically, “Or maybe because he’s got a job to do here?”

“He’s got a job to do with us, too,” Artemis protested.

“Please, friends, we should not fight,” Starfire said, “I’m sure everything will be worked out.”

“Yeah, in your favor,” Zatanna muttered under her breath.

“Robin makes his own choices,” Raven told them, “We don’t try to make them for him, and neither should you.”

“Hey, what are you implying?” Rocket asked, “He’s our friend and we want what’s best for him.”

“Yeah, well he’s our leader, and we trust him to decide what’s best for him himself,” Cyborg shot back.

“And how’s that working out for you?” Artemis asked dryly.

“Pretty good considering we’ve saved the world several times,” Beast Boy snarled.

They descended into fighting, the rest of the team and titans watching with wide eyes. Miss Martian reached out to take Superboy’s hand.

“If he were really so unhappy, wouldn’t he have told us?” she asked quietly. Superboy didn’t answer, watching the fight quietly. Beast Boy had turned into a goose to honk loudly every time Artemis  said something, and Rocket was making blah blah blah motions with her hand every time Cyborg opened his mouth.

“Please, do not fight,” Starfire implored, “It does no good to cause the bad feelings among ourselves.”

“Robin will make his own choices,” Raven agreed, “All this fighting is pointless.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure you’re saying that cause you know Kitty Pantene over here is just gonna bat her eyes here and Robin will do whatever she says,” Rocket said rudely, gesturing at Starfire. Artemis whipped around to stare at Rocket in shock.

“What did you call me?” Starfire demanded, eyes and hands beginning to glow, “How dare you? You… you…”

“Enough!” Aqualad yelled, silencing everyone. He took a deep breath, “Rocket, stop. You know better than to say such things. Now apologize at once.”

“Sorry,” Rocket grumbled, not looking at anyone.

“As for the rest of you, the titans are right,” Aqualad turned to the rest of the team, “It is not for us to decide for Robin. He will make his own choices, and we will abide by them.”

The team all shuffled awkwardly, but nodded.

“I realize that I have no authority over you,” Aqualad said, turning to the titans, “But please do not pick fights with my team?”

“We didn’t start it,” Beast Boy snorted, then got elbowed by Raven, “Ow! Fine, whatever,” he grumbled.

Everyone quieted down after that, barely looking at each other. Artemis sidled up beside Kaldur and took his hand. “Sorry,” she murmured.

He didn’t say anything, but he squeezed her hand.

Slowly, M’gann drifted back over to Starfire. “So, about that double date?” she smiled hesitantly, and was rewarded by Starfire smiling back. Slowly, the atmosphere in the room lightened, and the teams mingled again, if maybe not so freely anymore, and all of them were watching the door out of the corners of their eyes.

When the door slid open, everything went quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in fact aware that "Kitty Pantene" is a weird insult. However, I really wanted to work "Kitty" in there somewhere, because a regular insult might not have offended Starfire too much, but comparing her to Kitten, even unknowingly? Good way to freaking die.


	12. Things are Resolved Happily and the Author Headcanons All Over the Place

Robin led the way into the room, face unreadable, and Batman came in behind him, looking like he’d been carved from stone. Robin returned to the titans, turning to stare at his mentor defiantly.

“You’re really happy?” Batman asked.

“Happier than I’ve been in years,” Robin replied.

Batman sighed, then strode forward and pulled Robin into a hug, to general shock.

“Don’t scare me like that again,” he murmured, “And if you don’t come back for Thanksgiving I will fly out here and drag you by the ear. Bring your girlfriend, A will love her.”

Robin had gone stiff when the hug had started, but relaxed, throwing his arms around Batman and squeezed just as hard. “Thank you… Dad.”

They stood like that for a moment longer, then Batman took a step back, nodded once, and swept out of the room.

For a moment, no one spoke. The Beast Boy said what everyone was thinking. “Was that it?”

“Yeah,” Robin said, half disbelieving himself, but then he smiled, “That was it.”

Cyborg blinked. “Well okay then. Who wants waffles?”

* * *

Raven pulled Zatanna aside while everyone was eating.

“Robin told me about what happened to your father,” Raven said, holding out a book stuffed full of sticky notes, “I’ve been doing some research, and…”

Zatanna reached out to take the book with trembling hands, “Th-thank you. Do you really think…”

“That he can be saved?” Raven finished, “Yes.”

“No one else does,” Zatanna admitted, “I’ve been searching for years.”

“Nabu might be ancient and powerful,” Raven admitted, “But my father was thousands of times more ancient and powerful than he will ever be, and I already defeated him. We can defeat this so-called Doctor Fate too.”

Zatanna’s lip trembled, and she threw herself forward to tackle Raven in a hug. “Thank you.”

* * *

“So, how’s it hanging?” Kid Flash asked, reappearing in the tower kitchen like he never even left.

“And where did you go?” Artemis demanded.

“Date night, I told you,” he said, apparently not even noticing her irritation, “Or, well, closer to date afternoon.”

“We’re not staying too much longer,” Jinx said, hopping down off of his back, “I’ve got some things to do this evening.”

“Visiting them again?” Cyborg asked sympathetically.

“Don’t you dare tell me it’s stupid,” she warned him, “Don’t you dare.”

“Hey, I get it,” he raised his hands in surrender, “I just don’t think it’s gonna work, you know?”

“What’s not going to work?” M’gann asked.

“Erm, Megalicious, kind of a touchy subject,” Wally said out of the corner of his mouth.

“No, it’s fine,” Jinx said, nudging his hand off her shoulder, “I was thinking about going in for double membership like you now that the titans don’t have to be a secret, depending, and if I’m going to be their teammate I’m going to need to be honest with them.”

Wally pulled her into a sideways hug, looking immensely proud. Jinx took a deep breath and grabbed his hand.

“So the thing is, I used to be a supervillain,” she said, staring at the team like she was daring them to judge her, “Between my powers and my parents sending me to supervillain training school before I could even walk, I didn’t think there was any other option, and I convinced myself I was satisfied with that. Kid here’s the one who gave me a way out,” she favored him with a small smile, “But my old team are all in the same boat as I was, rotting in the juvenile wing of the superhuman detention facility, and Mammoth is going to get moved to adult prison soon. They’re a bunch of idiots, but if Kid hadn’t helped me I’d be right in there with them. So when they’re in prison I visit and try to convince them to give heroism a try, the way I did. It’d get them lighter sentences, support from the hero community, and keep them from being used by various scumbags who take advantage of them having the attention spans of mayflies to make them scapegoats and fall guys.”

“That is very noble of you, Jinx,” Aqualad nodded, “And we would be more than happy to have you on the team. I’m sure you would be a wonderful teammate.”

“Thanks,” Jinx looked down, refusing to blush, “Most of the titans don’t really want teachers or oversight, that’s why they’re titans, but I admit, it might be nice to have teachers who didn’t want to use me as an assassin, or brainwash me, or take over the world.”

“Yeah, see, now when Kid Flash takes you to the league, you just need to say exactly that, in exactly that way, and every single female leaguer will crawl over each other to get dibs on you,” Robin told her with a chuckle, “Plus Batman.”

Everyone laughed, and Artemis leaned over with a smirk, “You know, for a while I was worried that our relationship didn’t work out because I was too much of a bad girl, with my entire immediate family being supervillains and all,” she said, “But apparently I just wasn’t bad enough. Who knew our Kid Mouth was so fond of the wild side?”

“Artemi-i-is!” he whined, but she and Jinx had absolutely no pity on him, laughing hard enough they started to choke.

* * *

“What on earth?” Robin muttered to himself as he squinted at his computer screen.

“Something wrong?” Zatanna asked.

“I don’t think…” Robin began, but trailed off eyes going wide, “No way. He only left a few hours ago, how on earth would he have done it this quickly?”

“Done what? Who?” Zatanna questioned.

“Batman. He’s…” Robin started to laugh disbelievingly, “He’s made identities for Raven and Starfire.”

“What?” Beast Boy yelped.

“Really?” Starfire gasped.

“Take a look,” Robin swiveled his laptop around so they could see it.

Raven leaned forward to read it aloud, “Thought your friends might like having the option of anonymity. If there are any other titans who need this, send a list and I will take care of it. IDs are in the mail, parts for league issue holographic projectors to follow.”

“Hey, congrats!” Cyborg told Starfire and Raven, “Wait, how’d he even get this information? I’m gonna have to overhaul our security again, aren’t I.”

“He’ll take that as a challenge,” Robin said absently, now scouring the blueprints that were attached to the email. Starfire swiped the laptop from him and went to confer in the corner with Raven over their new identities.

Robin smiled and brushed a soft kiss to Starfire’s hair, “Congratulations, Korrina Anders and Rachel Roth.”

* * *

“I believe I was wrong before,” Aqualad told Robin as the team was getting ready to leave, “When I said you were born to lead this team. You were born to lead, there can be no doubt, but more than that, you were born to build. Seeing what you have built here, I’m proud to have had even a small part in your journey.”

“Thanks, Kaldur,” Robin said, smiling, “That means a lot.”

Zatanna pulled him into a hug, “I hope you’re happy,” she whispered, “And thank you for everything you did for me.”

“My pleasure, Zee,” He told her.

“See you soon!” Megan waved to Starfire, “We’ll have to get together sometime and have that double date!”

“I am looking forward to it!” Starfire called back, grinning wide enough to split her face.

“Nice meeting you guys,” Cyborg said, “If any of you ever get tired of the league bossing you around, you’ve all got an open invitation.”

“Same goes for you,” Superboy told him, “Team’s always recruiting.”

“Hah! Not likely,” Cyborg laughed, “But don’t be strangers. See you around!”

Finally, the team all loaded onto the bioship, but before Miss Martian could close the door, Robin called, “Hey!”

He tossed something small and round to Aqualad. When he looked down at it, it was another of the round yellow communicators Kid Flash and Robin had used.

“When there’s trouble, you know who to call,” Robin said, “We’ll come.”

“And we will come for you as well,” Aqualad said. He sat down and strapped in, and soon the bioship was lifting off and flying away.

Robin watched it go, then the titans turned and went back inside.

END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed the ride as much as I did!

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline goes something like this:
> 
> -Robin and Batman start fighting following the "mission" to Haly's Circus, with the big blowout happening roughly two to three weeks after Auld Acquaintance.
> 
> -"Go!" Takes place about two weeks after that.
> 
> -TT season 1 starts maybe three to six months after "Go!" and each TT season takes roughly three months all told, with maybe one to three months in between.
> 
> -Should the team have been recruiting during that time? Probably, but I'm not including anyone who wasn't part of the group that infiltrated the watchtower.
> 
> -Robin stops going home after the thing with Hotspot, both because Paranoia! and because Busy!
> 
> -Trouble in Tokyo happens maybe two or three weeks after the season 5 finale, right as Robin's just getting everyone set up and squared away.
> 
> -This takes place maybe a week or two after that. I'm going to say it's summertime just so I don't have to deal with them having to get excuses from school or whatever.


End file.
